Film opening analysis

• 127 Hours, Drama
• Takes place in the house, then car, then desert/canyon
• Fast-paced at the beginning, packing food and essentials, voice message playing in background, mindlessly drives further away from civilisation, repeated shots car moving along empty road, he films himself in car, in morning he is cycling through desert, films himself again from bike
• Order of events is significant as he is the only character in all 3 settings (house, car, desert) for first 8 minutes, pace slows down, in each scene he is further away and more isolated, shots the road from moving car shows how far he is going, road signs show that he is moving further away from shops, restaurants and other people. It is significant as it shows his freedom at this point and an abundance of food and drink in the beginning of the film
• The events link to each other as they show Aaron's daily routine and descent into the desert gradually from the safety of his house. First scene in house shows only close-up shots of objects with character in background, second scene contains medium shots and tilted frames, final opening scene is mostly very long shots or views from above
• Aaron Ralston introduced as main character, his sister leaves voicemail showing that she is concerned about him, two girls lost in the canyon display Aaron as knowledgeable of the area and helpful to others
• The isolation of Aaron in the canyon is shown repeatedly through panning of landscape with Aaron in the centre and slow zoom outwards showing more of the empty desert. There are scenes of him filming himself and taking pictures to reflect that he is completely alone and that the video camera might be a significant aspect of the story. Other cars and cyclists moving away from him and length of car journey shows how far he is travelling
• Aaron's personal life and memory is withheld deliberately so that he can reflect on it later on in the film
• At the start of the film the audience needs to be introduced to the main character through use of props or environment they are in. This shows subtle aspects of character without revealing the whole story